Backing Up Multiple Remote Locations

By Craig Berklet
Expert Author
Article Date: 2009-05-04

IT departments are constantly seeking to share and manage the backup of data across a wide variety of geographically scattered locations. Traveling executives and sales staff with laptops and remotely located offices place demands on the network and the IT department to make data more accessible - and at the same time - more secure and completely accurate.

Business networks often use a WAN (wide area network) to store data in a centralized location.

Multiple locations then connect to the central file serve to access this data. These multiple locations, unless geographically located within close proximity to each other, have a tendency to bottleneck as the number of users increase.

IT departments can deploy network acceleration technologies to ease some of this network static through caching of data. This solution is only temporary, as file sizes increase, the remote locations have to copy the data needed between the locations so it can be accessed locally.

Add to this, the fact that managing multiple users one at a time can place a significant logistical burden on a typical companies' IT department. It's one thing to manage and back up 20 stationary desktops in a single room. It's an entirely different matter to track and protect 20 laptops, in 20 cities, with unpredictable internet access.

Multiple locations also suffer from the absence of an onsite IT person which, unless a carefully crafted plan is deployed, can mean that each location has to act as its own backup technician.

Most often someone other than a member of the IT department is responsible for the nightly backup and even making sure that certain the backups are taken offsite for storage. This in itself opens up the door to a host of possible problems.

There is a security issue in having backups of company information going home with employees (or even sitting in their cars) and the risk of backups not being consistently performed to capture daily altered data.

Some organizations have found that centralized data storage using Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions has helped to avoid many of these problems.

However, these solutions bring the problem full circle.

The main problem to be addressed is how to secure data in one location and have quick, secure access to it at the same time from remote locations.

When selecting a SaaS online backup provider, you want to make sure that their solution will integrate well with your company.

First, it's important to pick something that's fully automated and runs in the background. Any time you ask end-users to implement a new piece of technology, there are often significant training costs involved. Having a solution that runs seamlessly in the background eliminates the need for training or support, except when a restoration is needed.

Second, you'll want to pick a provider with a high-end infrastructure in the background. When your systems go down, you want to have instant access to your most critical data. Time is money and you can't afford to cut corners. (This is why a "cheap" backup solution can end up being more expensive than a premium solution)

Finally, you'll want to make sure that your provider offers a centralized management portal. Nothing is worse than having to go through individual machines, one at a time, and changing setting. One of the good things about these SaaS online backup solutions is that they sometimes offer a wide range of advanced bulk user management features that allow you to change group settings remotely without ever touching the user's machine.

As companies continue to capitalize on the strategic benefits of allowing their employees to work from many remote locations, IT department will continue to struggle with the logistical complications inherited from these business decisions.

But by following the advice laid out in this article, hopefully, you can simplify the process.

About the Author:
Storagepipe offers online backup, email archiving, and other enterprise solutions that simplify the business continuity and compliance process for many companies. Those interested in selling their own small business online backup solutions can also join Storagepipe’s partner program